Liverpool FC: a Comolli of errors

The Kop relies on elephantine memory

There's no doubt Kenny Dalglish is relying on his legendary status to remain as Liverpool manager at the moment.

Here was a man in his first year as player-boss who claimed the Reds the double, clinching the league at Chelsea and scoring the winner. Real Roy of the Rovers stuff from one of Britain's greatest ever players.

And of his second coming amid the dying embers of the Gillett, Hicks and Roy Hodgson gloom, which Kopite wouldn't have called for the Messiah back then?

But how long can King Kenny's credit last? Six defeats in seven games has left the summer's big spenders out of Europe and out of touch of the big sides. Liverpool FC a big brand? Yes. A big club? Measured against the new arrivals at football's top table in the form of Tottenham and Manchester City? it's highly questionable.

Not even Roy could match King Kenny's '86 triumph

During the latest defeat at Newcastle, I was surprised to see Steven Gerrard shoeing Dalglish off the pitch in a "stop interfering" kind of way. Gerrard is about the only one at Anfield with the status to do such a impudent thing to the gaffer - and it was telling.

But the blame for Liverpool's plight can't entirely be placed at Dalglish's door. It's transfer policy which has been a major let-down too - and that's squarely the responsibility of Damien Comolli.

Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll have yielded just six goals between them. The quartet cost owner John W. Henry an eye-watering eighty million quid in the summer.

Comolli talking a good game with the owner.

They're all British too. Now, I'm not battering the reputations of home-grown players. Indeed, the English backbone of Chelsea and Manchester United has served them rather well over the years. But the contention of building a new team from the British Isles is misguided when as a Premier League club, one can attract the best of the world.

It's just not true that British players settle in better or faster. A high-level professional from Togo or Tel Aviv is just as reliable. But Comolli seems to think so.

Without qualifying for the Champions League, the best players, whatever their nationality won't be Anfield-bound anymore. Without them, Liverpool will become Premier League also-rans. Despite splashing out in the summer, that's what they've become this year.

As with other victorious Carling Cup managers, trophy glory doesn't guarantee job security and sometimes it's the straw that breaks the back of relegation.

Let's not forget Juande Ramos has still won one more piece of silverware at White Hart Lane than Harry Redknapp, but the Spaniard was taken out in a midnight cloak and dagger exit months later.

Alex McLeish steered Birmingham City to the League Cup last year - but at huge cost to the Second City's Second Club, as they were relegated. Next thing you know, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire for Big Eck when Aston Villa came calling.

So it's a results business whether you're Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, former Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle or Newcastle's Kevin Keegan (twice). And if things don't turnaround fast, I can see the passwords to the Liverpool bank account reset for a new manager this summer. Kenny's got to be the on the edge.

But it's not just players that lose managers their jobs these days. It's Directors of Football too.

More on Dalglish at Anfield here. Click here for Dalglish: Never Go Back (written back in January last year)

Modric transfer saga pivotal to more than Tottenham

Modric wants out. Spurs say no.

As Daniel Levy plays poker with Chelsea rejecting offer after offer for Luka Modric, something bigger is going in football.

I can only match the drama of Harry Redknapp's contention; "If Modric leaves, it'll all be over for Tottenham. Because if he goes, Bale, van der Vaart and the others will too."

But if Spurs do succeed in keeping the little Croatian, they'll stay this side of the wire as a "big club" and strike a blow for the aspirations of lesser teams up and down the land.

However, if Modric goes, Tottenham will join the wastelands of the also-rans at Newcastle United, Everton and dare I say it, Aston Villa, who've sold their two best players to Liverpool and Manchester United. (I can't utter their names I'm so disappointed. I'm Down but I'm still Young).

Modric doesn't come out of this with much credit. Happy to put pen to paper for six-years only fourteen months ago, his stock's risen suddenly after half a good season. Now he wants to cash in and join Chelsea. He rather resembles just another greedy footballer. Couldn't he achieve great silverware at White Hart Lane? He's hardly a rat leaving a sinking ship, is he?

So an impasse has arisen: Redknapp is happy to back Spurs chairman Levy's resolve not to sell one of his best players.

It was pivotal to Arsenal after selling Gael Clichy to Manchester City that Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri stayed too. After their terrible slide into late season ignominy, a landslide threated to engulf The Emirates. But as the summer progresses, the Gunners may launch into the season relatively unscathed - even if Barca are like a dog with a bone.

Noel should be brought in to break the deadlock.

Daniel Levy is a brilliant negotiator, a skilled seller of his top players. Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov were sold for £19m and £33m respectively - fantastic sums for both at the time and he may just be exercising brinkmanship as usual to get another phenomenal price for Modric - but it's for bigger stakes this time.

Since Berba and Carrick left, Tottenham have shown they've got Champions League credentials. But if they're to eat at the top table with Chelsea, they must keep Modric.

And their resolve should send a stern message to the boardrooms at Goodison, Villa Park and even The Emirates.

Click here for the current Top Story Soccermongery's all about your feedback, so write away, right away!

Ghana late show caps carnival friendly

England 1 Ghana 1: Jonny Gould reports from Wembley.

Isn't it great to see a Wembley friendly played with vigour, commitment and passion for a change? With the amount of players from the Premier League on both sides, I suppose we shouldn't have expected anything less.

The sheer size and carnival of Ghana's support ensured it was never going to be just a kickabout. The match sold out a fortnight ago and the visiting contingent were given a bigger share of the stadium.

Asamoah Gyan's deserved late strike

Despite being a second string, Fabio's alternatives played like they believed they could make the starting XI. The England boss had earlier released Chelsea's trio of Terry, Lampard and Cole along with Rooney and Dawson.

But Aston Villa pair Stewart Downing and Ashley Young looked lively and Andy Carroll, back after injury led an adventurous 4-3-3 formation.

And though Carroll's left-foot strike at the end of the first-half looked set to give England victory, not even the most ardent home fan would begrudge Ghana's equaliser struck by Asamoah Gyan.

So what can Capello have learned from a friendly without the backbone of his senior players? Well, no one seemed overawed - and the only way to deepen a squad is through match experience.

Jack Wilshere gives us a glimpse of the next generation, Leighton Baines is a lively back-up for Ashley Cole and Andy Carroll gives us tactical options upfront, so different as he is from Wayne Rooney.

But it was more of an exhibition than a proper game; at times our defending, ball control and understanding were suspect. We're quite some way from winning a tournament.

But as a big England fan, I'd love to be proved wrong.

Houllier's getting to grips at Villa

Another draw maybe, but the enforced substitution of Nigel Reo-Coker sparked something very exciting in the Villa performance, writes Villa fan and talkSPORT's Jonny Gould.

Putting aside the wretched disappointment of conceding a goal which denied Villa a deserved victory in the 1-all draw at Fulham, this was a very significant day in the Gerard Houllier regime.

Albrighton's strike should've been the winner at Fulham.

Because now the team's looking like his. The Martin O'Neill era is consigned to history. And that moment came at the exact point when we lost skipper Nigel Reo-Coker to injury.

On in his place came Ciaran Clark. Forced to push up to midfield from his customary defensive position (as he did against Blues), Clark found his feet immediately - and produced a consummate display.

But it's not just about a fine young talent producing on demand. It's what Clark represents when he plays alongside Barry Bannan, Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso.

Villa have a class of 2010 - When these young lads combined with the attacking instincts and experience of Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, Villa looked a threat on the break every time they had the ball.

Now watch Villa's poor away form on the road improve vastly. If they play like that, results and confidence will follow.

Naturally, they'll have to play a different kind of game at home. One can't rely on attacking on the break at Villa Park. And with Heskey, Carew and Agbonlahor all missing at Fulham, the focal point of a target man will change the team's dynamic anyway.

But Houllier's way is being stamped on the players. Not only that, he's giving decent youngsters a proper chance to stake their claim to a Villa career. Something O'Neill just didn't do.

Villa lost Gary Cahill to Bolton for that reason - and it's a crying shame as Villa's youth policy has always produced a conveyor belt of good talent.

I'm excited by the performance at Craven Cottage - and while this is a year of transition forced on Villa by O'Neill's shock decision to quit five days from the season's start, we have in Houllier's Class of 2010, something to make the heart beat faster.